1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to safety line anchors that provide a secure tie down location for people working on the roof of a building or other elevated surface. More specifically, this invention relates to portable versions of such anchors that can be easily transported to and from each point of use.
2. Background & Description of the Related Art
Persons working on roofs or other elevated surfaces commonly utilize fall restraint and fall arrest systems to mitigate the chances of falling and injury. These fall restraint/arrest systems generally consist of an anchor, a tether or safety line, and some type of harness for attaching the tether to the worker. Examples of workers that would use these systems are contractors, roofers, custodians, and ventilation equipment technicians.
The present invention addresses the need for anchors for these systems to be portable and easily installed and removed on an as-needed basis. Roofs typically do not have permanent anchors installed, or if they do, the anchors are not in locations that would allow the anchors to be used in the new area of work. In such cases a new anchor must be installed, which takes additional time and expense above that already budgeted for the work. What is needed in the field of roof safety line anchors is a reusable anchor that can be carried to the jobsite, quickly installed where desired, reliably used in a fall restraint/arrest system, and easily removed when finished. Such a device is disclosed herein.
U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2011/0048851 to Koneval, discloses a roof safety anchor that can be connected to the drain line of a roof drain system. However, Koneval relies solely on an expansion fitting to secure the anchor in the drain line which raises concerns about inadvertent release of the anchor. Also, Koneval's design requires the use of concentric spacers surrounding the stem of the device to fill the bowl of the drain to minimize wobble of the stem extending up through the bowl of the drain. This method of minimizing wobble is limited by the size of the spacers preinstalled on the device. In addition, because the spacers are of fixed diameters, the device must carry several different sizes due to the uncertainty of the roof drain size which will be encountered. By carrying a variety of spacers on the device unnecessary bulk and weight are added to the device. Furthermore, Koneval's device is intended to frictionally engage the interior walls of the “drain line” below the drain and not the drain neck or the portion of the drain piping within the neck area. This could be problematic if the anchor is intended to be used in a roof drain that has only a short segment of vertical drain pipe connecting to the drain. In such situations there may not be a sufficient length of drain piping below the drain to safely use Koneval's device. In view of the foregoing, there remains a need for a portable safety line anchor particularly well adapted for use on a roof including such an anchor which can be secured within or through a drain in a roof.